CHAPTER 709: ONE REGRET

"Yes! Revenge!" Tharen echoed, nodding firmly. He was already thinking the same thing—this wasn’t something they could just let slide. Not now. Not ever.

Howard’s voice was heavy with grief. "The equipment in that lab... it was worth a fortune. And the weapons we developed, the thousand-plus Guard Mechs—those were decades of work. We have to find a way to get them back."

"Absolutely," Tharen agreed without hesitation. The idea of that kind of advanced tech falling into the hands of a Voidborn Undying was terrifying. The consequences could be catastrophic.

"But first," Howard said, his tone sharpening, "we need to figure out exactly how this happened. How did that Zombie King get into the Inner City? How did he manage to steal everything from the lab right under our noses?"

"Exactly," Tharen said with a grim nod.

They were going to get to the bottom of this. And when they did, the Zombie King would pay.

Meanwhile, the Inner City was slowly pulling itself back together. The riots were being suppressed, bodies cleared, rubble swept away. Medics worked around the clock to treat injured Awakeners.

Serah, the legendary warrior of the human race, hadn’t died—but she’d come damn close. Ethan’s punch had left her half-paralyzed. Even with her enhanced physique, she’d need serious time to recover.

Gareth, drained from the battle, had already returned to rest.

Howard and Tharen, along with the elite forces from both of their families, began digging into the incident. They pulled surveillance footage, cross-referenced records, and started piecing together the truth.

And it didn’t take long. The trail was clear.

Ethan and Ricky had entered the city using a forged ID—posing as a man named Dane. The system had logged their entry.

"That bastard came in disguised as Dane," Howard muttered, eyes locked on the massive screen in front of him. It showed Ethan walking through the city gates, then checking into a hotel.

Dane was from Mercenary Town. That led them to the next clue—the Black Market there had been completely wiped out.

That’s where Ethan and Ricky had gotten their money.

City Guards tracked down people who knew Dane and questioned them. It didn’t take long to learn that Dane had once taken a mission to Necroterra.

And just like that... the whole puzzle came together.

The entire disaster had started with Dane’s mission to Necroterra—where he’d unknowingly brought back the Zombie King.

"Oh, and sir—about Ricky," one of the subordinates added. "He used to be a nobody from the Outer Zone. Just a grunt, bottom of the barrel. But after meeting the Zombie King, he awakened some kind of special ability. Became bloodthirsty, ruthless. Killed a bunch of our City Guards. He’s a full-blown monster now."

Howard snorted. "Hmph. No surprise there. Anyone who sticks around that Zombie King long enough is bound to lose their damn mind. He’s probably been brainwashed."

"Yeah... makes sense," the subordinate agreed.

Tharen was quiet for a moment, then said, "Now that we know what happened, I think it’s time we do a full sweep—both the Inner City and the Outer Zone. Make sure we didn’t miss anything. Once things are stable, we can start planning our next move against the Zombie King."

"Agreed," Howard said. "We can’t rush this. As much as I want to strike back, we need to be smart."

Before we deal with threats out there, we need to clean up in here. civilization had been living in comfort for far too long...

And now, the storm had come.

Due to the massive incident in the Inner City, the entire human civilization had been thrown into high alert. Every system, every protocol, was now being enforced with brutal precision. Patrols ran day and night, sweeping both the Inner City and the Outer Zone. Soldiers went door to door, questioning residents, checking IDs, scanning for anomalies. No one dared to slack off—not anymore.

The atmosphere was tense, suffocating. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath.

In the Outer Zone, people whispered behind closed doors.

"What the hell’s going on lately? Why are they cracking down so hard?"

"Something big must’ve happened. They’re not playing around."

"I’m telling you, this isn’t just a couple days of lockdown. This feels like it’s gonna last months."

"Eh, whatever. We’re just the folks eating compressed protein bars. Not like it’s our problem..."

"..."

But far from the chaos of human civilization, Ethan had already left it all behind.

He was deep in the Exile Zone now.

The landscape stretched endlessly—barren, desolate, painted in shades of rust-red and brown. Jagged rocks littered the ground, and the sky above was a dull, lifeless gray.

The recent battle with the three SSS-ranked human Awakeners still lingered in his mind. In his eyes, he’d lost.

He hadn’t killed them. Which meant, by his standards, he’d failed.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss.

He’d gotten what he came for—Guard Mechs, high-end lab equipment. A haul like that? Worth its weight in blood. The mission had paid off.

Once he got back to the corpse nest, he could finally build his own lab.

"Captain, are you leaving?" Ricky asked, walking beside him. During the chaos of the riot, he’d absorbed a ton of negative energy. With the crowd as cover, he’d slipped out alongside Ethan.

"Yeah," Ethan replied without hesitation. "I’m heading back to Necroterra."

"Oh..." Ricky nodded slowly, a thoughtful look crossing his face. He wanted to go with Ethan—he really did.

But heading into zombie territory? That wasn’t exactly ideal for someone like him.

Ethan glanced at him. "What about you? Where are you going?"

"I... I think I’ll head to Xenorift," Ricky said after a moment of thought.

It made sense. Xenorift was where rogue Awakeners and criminals usually fled when they pissed off the human government. It was dangerous, sure—but not as insane as Necroterra.

Still, Xenorift was chaos incarnate. Monsters, outlaws, mercenaries—it was a lawless wasteland.

But Ethan figured... yeah. That kind of place suited someone like Ricky.

"Alright. Then go."

"Captain..." Ricky looked at him, eyes lingering. The thought of parting ways hit harder than he expected. He knew Ethan was a Zombie King, but honestly? He didn’t care anymore.

Ethan had taught him so much. Treated him better than any human ever had.

"Something wrong?" Ethan asked.

Ricky scratched the back of his head, hesitating. "I... can I call you ’Master’?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "If you want."

Then, with a casual wave, he summoned two aircraft from his storage ring. "Go on. Get moving."

"Yeah! Okay!" Ricky nodded quickly, grinning like a kid. Ethan hadn’t said no—that was enough for him.

Now that they had this bond, he was sure they’d meet again.

Ricky made a silent vow: he’d grow stronger, and one day, he’d go to Necroterra to find him.

The two said their goodbyes, then parted ways.

Their aircraft lifted off, splitting at a ninety-degree angle, each heading in a different direction—growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

Ethan’s journey back to Necroterra would take him straight through the Exile Zone.

It was going to be a long trip.

He leaned back in the cockpit, poured himself a glass of "juice," and began absorbing crystal cores. No SSS-level ones this time, but plenty of SS-grade—still a solid haul.

One regret, though: he hadn’t managed to grab many lightsabers.

Once he took the Guard Mechs, his cover had been blown. There was no time to go back for anything else.

He had to choose—mechs or weapons.

And between the two, the mechs were far more valuable.

Ethan turned his head, glancing back through the rear window.

The continent of human civilization was already far behind him, shrinking into the horizon, fading into a blur.

"I’ll come back for the rest next time..."

...